The danger of working for an unethical boss

Kevin Spacey plays the manipulative political leader
Frank Underwood on "House of Cards."Netflix

When you apply for a new job, there's a good chance the hiring
manager isn't just evaluating your credentials — he's also
probably considering the reputation of top leaders at your former
company.

And if those people are known for being liars and cheats, the
hiring manager may have doubts about bringing you on — even if
you had nothing to do with the immoral behavior.

That's according to new
research from Stanford University, which found that people
perceive the unethical behavior of high-status individuals as
prototypical of the group as a whole.

The researchers conducted a series of experiments to test this
phenomenon. In one, participants read about an employee who was
charged with fraud. Some participants read that he was a
high-ranking exec; others read that he was an entry-level
employee.

Participants were then asked to evaluate a job candidate for a
mid-level position. The candidate was supposedly employed at the
same company as the person accused of fraud. All participants
read a generally positive reference letter for the employee and
were then asked whether they would recommend the employee for the
position.

Results showed that people were much more reluctant to recommend
the candidate for the position when the person accused of fraud
was a high-ranking exec.

"We found that people made significantly more negative hiring
recommendations for this employee after they read that a
high-ranking executive, rather than an entry-level employee, from
this organization had committed fraud — even though there was no
indication that the two had ever worked together or even knew
each other," Takuya Sawaoka, one of the study
authors, said in a
release.

The researchers say these findings reflect the reality of people
employed at companies caught in scandals. In particular, they
mention
former employees of Enron who feel that many people are
still suspicious of them.

The authors also suggest the availability of information on the
internet means these negative associations could be magnified.

"With the rise of ubiquitous online social networks, rapid news
cycles and greater information transparency, details regarding
your professional affiliations — organizations and people you've
worked with, for example — are only a few clicks away. In
addition, revelations about coworkers' ethical lapses spread
quickly on the internet gossip mill," Sawaoka said.

If a top leader at your former company has a negative reputation,
the authors write that there are ways to reduce the perception
that you'll behave unethically as well. For example, you can emphasize to your
potential employer that the transgressor's actions were not
representative of the whole company.

You can also try to downplay
the transgressor's status in the organization, so that his or her
behavior seems less generalizable to the whole company.